Thompson on Hollywood

Celebrating Ford and Wayne's Classic Western 'The Searchers'

Features

This week marks the 57th birthday of John Ford's seminal western "The Searchers" (1956). In recognition, director Martin Scorsese reviews the classic film in THR:

By Ryan Lattanzio
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March 14, 2013 4:23 PM
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Now and Then: 'Justified' and the Anti-Antihero

Television

Tony Soprano. Dexter Morgan. Walter White. Television's latest "Golden Age," on cable and in the ancillary afterlife, is full of men who break bad. Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), the U.S. Marshall at the heart of "Justified," may not be squeaky clean, but he's a saint by comparison — and the key to the series' subtle genius.

By Matt Brennan
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January 3, 2013 7:22 AM
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Now and Then: 'Heaven's Gate,' Catastrophe or Classic?

Reviews

Once reviled, Michael Cimino's controversial "Heaven's Gate" (1980) may remain — despite the Criterion Collection's effort to resuscitate it — a cautionary tale of directorial hubris, Hollywood excess, and wayward ambition. The real moral of the film, however, is far simpler: "Heaven's Gate" is an object lesson in the intangibility of greatness.

By Matt Brennan
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November 27, 2012 4:21 PM
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Cinedigm Takes Jared Moshé's Western 'Dead Man's Burden' for 2013 Release

News

Cinedigm has acquired North American rights to release "Dead Man's Burden," from director Jared Moshé. The 1870-set Western premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and is playing this weekend at the Hamptons Int'l Film Festival. Cinedigm plans a 2013 release with a VOD, digital and DVD roll out to follow.

By Sophia Savage
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October 4, 2012 5:24 PM
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'Rango' Oscar-Winner Verbinski Starts Production on 'Lone Ranger,' Starring Depp as Tonto; Red Carpet Verbinski Video

News

At long last, Disney has started principal photography in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado on producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s epic "Lone Ranger" (May 13, 2013). In the wake of the disappointing "Cowboys & Aliens," Disney chief Rich Ross tussled with Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp to bring down the western's budget to $215 million.

By Anne Thompson
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February 28, 2012 3:25 PM
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And the Nobel Prize for Film Goes To...

Seeing that the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded last week, to Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, Matt Brennan got to thinking: What if there were a Nobel Prize for Film? This week’s “Now and Then” column revels in some of the possibilities. Check out the trailers and post your own picks in the comments section below:

By Matt Brennan
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October 10, 2011 5:07 AM
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Weekly Wrap: TIFF: Moneyball, Descendants, Deep Blue Sea; Reviews Kevin, The Lady; Media Watch

Box Office:

By Maggie Lange
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September 16, 2011 5:20 AM
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Denzel for Secret in Their Eyes Remake, Kevin Costner Out of Upcoming Tarantino, Source Code to TV

Kevin Costner was forced to back out of Quentin Taratino's Django Unchained due to scheduling conflicts and will no longer play Ace Woody, a "sadistic asshole who trains slaves to fight" in Tarantino's coming film. Meanwhile, as expected, Samuel L. Jackson has been confirmed to join the cast as a head house slave. The movie will star Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave who escapes from his vicious owner, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and joins forces with a German bounty hunter, played by Christoph Waltz. The film will begin production this November and has a planned release date of December 25, 2012.

By Maggie Lange
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September 16, 2011 4:05 AM
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Weinstein Co. Sits On Reign of Assassins Starring Michelle Yeoh, Early Reviews

Talking to The Lady star Michelle Yeoh in Toronto reminded me. Where is Reign of Assassins, which I saw at the Venice Film Festival in August, 2010? Weinstein Co. has been sitting on the elaborate martial arts fantasy from directors Su Chao-Pin and John Woo, which is a well-executed period action flick. The romance between Yeoh and my fave Korean star Jung Woo-Sung (The Good, The Bad and the Weird) works well—Yeoh’s playing the role of the veteran gunfighter (or sword-flying assassin) trying to go straight who falls in love with a regular guy. The overall film is not at the Woo level--he basically produced it. But the movie has elements of a Hong Kong Mr and Mrs. Smith. What are they waiting for? These two early reviews are mixed:

By Anne Thompson
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September 15, 2011 12:20 PM
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Film in the Decade Since 9/11: From Superheroes to Westerns, What Came After

This week's “Now and Then” column started out comparing and contrasting two movies about assassins — Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011) and Léon: the Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)—and ended up ruminating on 9/11. Trailers below:Life and culture are too messy to be divided into easy categories like “Before” and “After,” but for all the continuities in the way films are made and viewed, a long view of the last decade reveals some important, if subtle, shifts. Watching the network news coverage of September 11 to prepare for this column, I was reminded of how much we didn’t know that day, how much our fear stemmed from no longer being able to control the course of events.